June 3 is World Bicycle Day: globally recognised by the United Nations, and bolstered by hashtags on social media and community bike rides and the like. But there’s one country that looks at all that harmless, low-level fun and thinks ‘we can do better’: Turkmenistan.
There’s a fair bit of backstory to explain why this is the case, and why we at Escape Collective are so fascinated by this cultural phenomenon. I’m not going to retread it all here, other than to recognise that at some point the Turkmen observance of World Bicycle Day switched from being something I scoured for evidence of institutional corruption to being something that I look forward to, for the reliable joy of knowing that something objectively batty is going to happen on that day and I’ll have fun writing about it.
If this is your first time joining us for Turkmen Bicycle Parade Day, welcome! Dig into the backstory if you like, but all you really need to know at this point is that Turkmenistan is A) a bit grim and B) has a state policy of being dictatorially psyched about riding bikes for one day and one day only.
And if you’re a veteran observer of this very important annual tradition? Pop on your best tracksuit and grab a seat. It’s a good one this year.
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